January 24, 2008

Monarchs tame Bruins

 Chestnut Hill, MA – The defending champions traveled to the campus of Boston College to do battle with their chief rival the Jr Bruins.  The Monarchs would strike early and go on to win the battle 6-2.  Just 2:50 into the game Jeff Velleca (Merrimack College) unleashed a snapper past Russ Stein to t make it 1-0.  Greg Burke (UNH) and Brain Flynn would pick up assists on the goal.  Less than a minute later the trio would strike again with Burke firing a low shot past Stein forcing him out of the game.  Connor Knapp would come in and make a flurry of saves to slow down the Monarchs attack, but it would be Burke and Velleca again who would enter the offensive zone and make a textbook 3x2 into a 2x1 with Velleca snapping one past Knapp for a 3-0 lead after one period of play.

The Bruins would not go quietly as they came out barnstorming the Monarchs defensive zone and kept the pressure on for the first ten minutes of play in the second.  James Mello would respond and show why he is one of the elite goaltenders in junior hockey.  Mike White would finally solve Mello when he took a Cam Lanoue/Derek Arnold feed and fire one through traffic to make it a 3-1 game at the 8:22 mark of the second.  The Bruins would nearly make it 3-2 on an ensuing power play, but it would not come to fruition and the Monarchs would eventually get a power play of their own and strike quickly when a series of great passes between Owen Carpino, Ryan Miniaci, and Jeff Velleca would result in a 4-1 lead.  After several quick passes Carpino would slide the puck to Velleca who would then find Miniaci through a great passing lane; Miniaci would make no mistake and fire a one-timer past Knapp on the short side.

The Monarchs came out in the third and played well and the result would be a great goal from Jeff Hannan with Ansel Ivens-Anderson and Charlie Mullan picking up assists on the play.  Things would get interesting when the Monarchs would take three penalties all within 32 seconds of each other giving the Bruins a 5x3 power play for a healthy period of time.  The Bruins down by four goals decided to pull their goaltender and make it 6x3 with over ten minutes to play on a face-off in their offensive zone.  In one of the best face-off draws in league history, Rence Coassin (Harvard) took the face-off for the Monarchs and won the draw with a shot that went all the way down the ice and into the Bruins net for an incredible goal down 6x3 to make it 6-1.  Great PK and goaltending almost killed off the rest of the 5x3 for over two-minutes, but Tommy Atkinson would finally pop one by Mello after a scrum in front of the net to make it 6-2, which is how it would end up this night.

The Monarchs continue their hot play at home this weekend when they take on the New England Falcons Friday night at 7:45pm and the New England Huskies on Sunday at 2:20pm.  Both games are at the Tri Town Ice Arena in Hooksett, NH.